Message From the Editor

The powerful climate pollutant methane is leaking out of dozens of oil and gas wells, pipelines, and storage tanks in Romania, adding to a growing body of evidence that methane leaks are widespread and pervasive in Europe. The findings are part of a new investigation using optical gas cameras to detect leaking methane at oil and gas sites. The documentation could put additional pressure on Europe to crack down on emissions of this greenhouse gas. Nick Cunningham reports.

Meanwhile, from the U.S. to Japan, governments are quickly putting money behind oil and gas industry efforts selling blue hydrogen produced by natural gas with carbon capture as a clean fuel for the energy transition. But talking about green hydrogen publicly while making plans to produce blue hydrogen can be misleading. And research is revealing that despite claims that blue hydrogen is a “clean fuel,” the climate impacts don’t stack up. Read Justin Mikulka’s analysis.

And, this week, investigative journalist and author Ian Urbina argues that the ocean represents a major blind spot in efforts to tackle the climate crisis and that needs to change. While most of the climate crisis attention is focused on land, many of the best fixes are offshore, he writes. Read more here.

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: editor@desmogblog.com.

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

P.S. Readers like you make it possible for DeSmog to hold accountable powerful people in industry and government. Even a $10 or $20 donation helps support DeSmog’s investigative journalism.

Methane Leaking from Dozens of Oil and Gas Sites in Romania, Adding to a European-wide Problem

— By Nick Cunningham (5 min. read) —

“Romania has significant problems with its oil and gas production infrastructure, and is a leading emitter of methane in the EU,” said Mihai Stoica, Executive Director of 2Celsius, a Romanian NGO that partnered with the U.S.-headquartered advocacy group Clean Air Task Force (CATF) on the investigation. “These problems will not be resolved overnight, but we must start working on them now. The climate can no longer wait.”

As Subsidies Roll in, the Fossil Fuel Industry Is Winning Efforts to Cast Blue Hydrogen as a ‘Clean’ Fuel

— By Justin Mikulka (7 min. read) —

As global efforts to ramp up the hydrogen industry gain support with big government subsidies, new research casts increasing doubt on the climate credentials of the main recipient of that support, so-called “blue” hydrogen, which is extracted from natural gas and paired with carbon capture technology.

Hydrogen, an energy carrier proposed for helping transition the world away from fossil fuels, is well-suited for the oil and gas industry’s public relations machine. The industry, a major player in the main lobbying group, the Hydrogen Council, can run ads and talk about moving toward green hydrogen, which is produced from water using renewable energy, while working in the interim to get the world hooked on blue hydrogen. Blue hydrogen is made from natural gas, which is mostly methane, using electricity generated by burning more gas, and hydrogen is considered “blue” (rather than “gray”) when its carbon emissions are sequestered. The process uses lots of energy and releases carbon dioxide, plus, the natural gas supply chain is known to leak the powerful greenhouse gas methane.

Saving the Planet While Ignoring Two Thirds of It

— By Ian Urbina (5 min. read) —

For centuries, humanity has viewed the ocean as a metaphor for infinity. The assumption was — and frankly still is for many people — that the enormity of the sea comes with a limitless ability to absorb and metabolize all. This vastness is what lends the ocean deity-like potential. And more dangerously, it is what has given humans the license to dump virtually anything offshore. Oil, sewage, corpses, chemical effluvium, garbage, military ordnance, and even at-sea superstructures like oil rigs disappear into the oceans, as if swallowed up by a black hole, never to be seen again.

Ships knowingly release more engine oil and sludge into the oceans in the span of three years than that spilled in the Deepwater Horizon and Exxon Valdez accidents combined. They emit huge amounts of certain air pollutants, far more than all the world’s cars. Commercial fishing, much of it illegal, has so efficiently plundered marine stocks that the world’s population of predatory fish has declined by two thirds. At the same time, since the Industrial Revolution, companies on land have been allowed to dump carbon into the air for free, and roughly a quarter of that carbon is absorbed by the oceans. The hidden cost to that dumping is what we now call the climate crisis.

Central Banks Helping Funnel Trillions of Dollars into Fossil Fuels Despite Climate Pledges, Research Finds

— By Theodore Whyte (4 min. read) —

Central banks are continuing to help channel trillions of dollars into fossil fuels through policy decisions and direct financing, with overall sums rising in recent years, a new report has found.

None of the twelve banks examined are on track to meet the Paris Agreement targets despite many of them recently pledging to reach net zero emissions by 2050, the US-based environmental organisation Oil Change International (OCI) said.

UK Banks Defend Climate Record Despite Billions Lent to Fossil Fuel Industry This Year

— Adam Barnett (3 min. read) —

UK banks HSBC and Standard Chartered have rejected criticism of their commitment to tackling climate change, despite financing over £5 billion worth of fossil fuel developments in the first half of this year.

Barclays, responsible for £3.2 billion of fossil fuel lending, did not respond to a request for comment following the publication of new analysis on the UK’s top three coal, oil and gas funders.

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) is one of the main chemical industry trade associations in the US. Its members include subsidiaries of major fossil fuel companies, chemical manufacturers, and agribusinesses. ACC members include four out of the big five pesticides manufacturers (BASF, Bayer, Corteva Agriscience, and FMC). A 2015 Civil Eats article suggested that ACC and another lobby group, CropLife America, had a “great deal riding on the outcome” of an EU debate regarding regulating pesticides. According to its website page on energy policy, ACC supports an “energy strategy” that “promotes and develops all of America’s own energy resources” including “conventional and shale gas,” oil and nuclear.

Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database and Koch Network Database.

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